Wraithsong (41 page)

“
It’s a pleasure to meet
you all,” I say, and I’m sure that I mean it, though I can’t feel
it at the moment with Anthony’s death still overwhelming
me.

“
You may have had questions
about the gift you’ll receive once the year is over, the gift of
Cherubo?” She speaks like everything in life is normal, like losing
a loved one should not disturb me, like I should be thinking
forward and not back to the awful moment when Anthony died, but I
can’t. Numbly, I nod, to comply.

“
Most of you here know what
her gift is. Your gift, Sonia, means blessed, or sent by the gods,”
Esther says. “Your gift is just like any other Huldra gift really,
and it’s written in the book of Huldras that the gift of Cherubo
carries with it certain responsibilities.”

I don’t want
responsibilities now; I can’t carry any more weight on my
shoulders, for if I do, I’ll break.

“
What are those
responsibilities?” my mom says, probably seeing that I can’t
respond in the light of all that has happened.

“
We don’t know, exactly,
but this is what’s written: Flood the earth with it, a young Huldra
shall, ringing in a new dawn and a new beginning, with her superior
gift.” Esther stops speaking.

“
Amazing, don’t you think?”
my mom says to me, taking my hand. I get the feeling that she
doesn’t want to disappoint the other governesses or reveal how I
had fallen in love with a Darkálfar.

“
I see.” It’s too much to
think about all at once, yet now, maybe I understand why Maureen
was pursuing my gift so aggressively. She must think that if she
has it, she’ll have ultimate power. “How do you know I’m supposed
to receive the gift of Cherubo?”

“
I, as the matriarch of the
Huldras, saw it in a vision,” Esther says.

I remember Maureen saying
that she had seen it in a vision also, probably because she
appropriated a gift, making it possible for her to have
visions.

“
And because your name
means wisdom, what a great blessing it is that you shall receive
this gift,” Esther says.

I hardly see myself worthy
to receive the gift and I don’t care to receive it when there’s so
little left to live for. Considering what great challenges I’ve had
to go through just to receive my gift, I wonder if I want it at
all.

Esther turns to the others.
“We must continue our search for Maureen, Olaf and the Darkálfars,
for all our lives will be in danger as long as they’re alive. We,
the governesses, will discuss over the next day whom we shall send
after them and whom will remain here to restore Wraithsong
Island.”

Right as she says it, I
know I absolutely have to be one of the ones they send after
Maureen and Olaf, and not only that, I will on my search for them,
also travel to Helheim.

Esther continues. “Tomorrow
we’ll convene here at midday. Please see to it that you get
sufficient rest, for the battle ahead of us, I fear, is much more
perilous than the battle behind us.”

* * *

Though we can never be
fully pure in body, we can be fully pure in heart. Half black, half
white, half evil, half good, we are all the same, struggling to
find our path in this seemingly never-ending chasm of darkness. And
may we one day reach the light we so eagerly seek, knowing that the
freedom from darkness may only come when we shine our own light
upon others.

Blufire - Book II

in the Desirable Creatures series

Coming Dec. 31, 2014

http://ejsquires.com